Serious Browsing Problem

[Robert Hindla]

I have a windows server 2003 master browser/domain controller that just will
not listen to browser announcements from windows 200o domain members. Until
I set up a WINS server on one of the w3k dc's, the w2k member servers could
not browse at all. ("List of servers not available for this workgroup.")
When I turned up the WINS Server, they started to browse, but the only to
the domain controllers. The contents of the WINS database is exactly what
it should be. All the computers are there: they're all announcing. The W3K
browser service is just not consulting WINS, it seems.

Luckily I'm in a test network environment. Six computers attached to one
10Mbps hub.

The problem began when I migrated my two w2kas dc's to w3k. I added active
directory to two w3k-enterprise member servers, then moved the fsmo roles to
them. I made both new w3k dc's global catalogs. Then I deinstalled the AD
from the two w2k ex-DC's.

Then browsing came to grief. I had to untangle a bunch of old
inconsistencies, such as the remaining w2k servers pointing to a WINS server
whose WINS service had been removed. I found that the last w2k server
demoted from a DC left lots of entries in the DNS service on the W3K
servers. (Perhaps I hadn't told it to use the new w3k DNS server as its
chosen DNS server -- so I removed the entries manually.)

Browstat reports that the only computers in the domain, wherever it is run,
are the two domain controllers.

Is there a switch to make the W3K browser service listen to non-W3K
announcements - or to make it talk to a WINS service?

 

[J]

Did you move all your Server Role(s) PRIOR to demoting
your last W2K DC? If not you are going have to use
NTDSUTIL to grab all the roles or at least verify that the
new DC's have them.

I believe this should have happened automatically but if
you were on a older SP in W2K the servers may not have
played nice with the new W3K DC's during the demotion.

Also look at you DNS Zone configuration. Make sure the
Zone Properties is using the new WINS servers for lookups.

J